Fair Trade For All
An education resource for use with young people aged 10 - 13 years
Developed by: Trudi Waterfall, Jacqueline Grace, Tim Grace for the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand.
Designed by Julian Frost.
With funding from the Myer Foundation's Beyond Australia program
Fair Trade For All has been developed in response to the desire for Australian based educational materials that focus on issues of trade justice, and in particular the Fairtrade certification system. It aims to equip teachers and educators to comprehensively instruct the learning of students in concrete matters of trade and fairness.
It also aims to create a link between the fair trade industry in Australia and those doing the educating to more adequately resource teachers with hands on materials and practical applications of classroom based theory.
Each module of Fair Trade For All has been developed in accordance with Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) to inform teachers of the key learning areas that they have the opportunity to address, and assessment criteria that they have covered as they complete each module.
The developers of this kit would like to take the opportunity to thank the following organisations for their support in the development of this resource; The Myer Foundation; Tasmanian Centre for Global Learning; Oxfam Australia; Oxfam New Zealand; FairWear; and the Australian Catholic University: Students for Awareness.
We sincerely hope that Fair Trade For All assists you in role in educating Australia’s youth and we thank you for taking the time to include fair frade in the knowledge base that you impart to your students.
The Fair Trade For All education kit consists of 6 modules. All modules consist of a teaching resource, a student resource sheet and a teacher resource sheet, except for the final module, which does not have a teacher resource sheet.
The 6 modules are:
Click on each link to get to the modules.
There is also a discussion forum on this website for those interested in discussing the kit and its use. To access this forum you will need to register as a user and then go here - http://www.fta.org.au/node/1013.
[ Download this information as an Adobe pdf document (84kb) ]
Introduction to Module 1 - World Trade
The trade of items from one place to another has been a part of human existence for millennia. Countries have different natural, human, and capital resources and different ways of combining these resources. At the same time, trade has developed, allowing countries to specialise in these different resources. Ideally, the countries of the world can make the best use of sharing these resources in a cooperative and sustainable manner that benefits all.
World trade has been increasing both in volume and its impact on the global population. This increase should result in more efficient trade and higher standards of living. However, this is not often the case, as will be explored in Modules Two to Five.
Most students are not aware of their important role as consumers of imported products in our economy. Students need to be informed of how world trade is a big part of their material lives. These activities are designed to encourage students to see the relationship between what they own and the everyday activities of people all around the world.
Download the full teaching resource (400kb)
Introduction to Module 2 - Fairtrade Certification
At the beginning of the 21st century, the global population is linked more closely than ever through global trade. Everyday, we buy and use products from most countries around the world. Unfortunately unfair trade rules have been widely recognized as one of the major contributors to global poverty. An oft-quoted line is that if the poorest nations in South America, Africa and Asia, were able to increase their share in global trade by just 1%, the income generated could lift 128 million people out of poverty.
Fair trade is an alternate system of trade established approximately thirty years ago, based on equality, respect, fairness and communication. It bypasses the standard trade system and deals directly with the grower of a certain product. Fair trade follows the trade path from producer to seller, making sure everyone is both getting paid, and paying fairly. It guarantees certain goals are met.
By exploring Fair trade with your students, you will be providing them with opportunities to think about how they relate to the rest of the world, what role they play in the world as citizens in a first world country, how trade operates, and ways that trade can be used to make a positive difference in people’s lives. It provides new ways to explore civics and citizenship, geography and issues of fairness that students may not have had the opportunity to examine before. It also provides them the opportunity to explore the value of traded items, and the people who have worked to produce them.
Download the full teaching resource (690kb)
Download the student resource sheet (1.46Mb)
Introduction to Module 3 - The Coffee Trade
'Going out for coffee' is the hub around which the social lives of millions of people in the West revolve. As the 2nd largest traded commodity in the world behind oil, coffee is also the most widely consumed beverage. Whether in its roast and ground form, suiting people who appreciate the subtle nuances of brewing coffee in a plunger or home espresso machine, or in its instant form, suiting convenient mass consumption, it is lucrative big business for the 4 corporations that control half the global trade.
As legend tells, coffee first originated in either Yemen or Ethiopia (depending on who you talk to), where a mysterious order of mystics noted the heightened energy levels their goats were experiencing when eating the berries of coffee bushes. The mystics found out that chewing the beans for that much sought after caffeine hit, enabled them to read their scriptures late into the night. In its dried 'green bean' form, coffee was first traded from the Yemeni port of Mocha, and was brought to Java along the ancient merchant spice routes.
Today’s coffee trade involves around 100 million people from countries around the tropical belt of the world, namely: Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Columbia. A long term decline in the price of beans, power imbalances in favour of the large corporations and ongoing instability has spelt disaster for many farmers and their families, most of which cannot afford adequate food, education and medicine. Price surges do little to offset the ongoing crisis, with many isolated farmers unaware of stock exchange prices and often exploited by coyotes, local middlemen.
In teaching this lesson, students will gain an understanding of the differences in the bustling coffee trade in Australia and New Zealand in comparison to the struggle of production in poorer countries. Focusing on such things as the disparity between what we pay for coffee in comparison to what farmers get paid, and the fact that coffee beans come from poor countries and brands are based in rich countries, allows students to contextualise further what it means to be a global citizen. Activities include making graphs to show price differences, analysis of real life case studies of both Fairtrade and non-Fairtrade farmers, and much more.
Download the full teaching resource (560kb)
Download the student resource sheet (2.72Mb)
Introduction to Module 4 - The Cocoa Trade
Cocoa is the magic ingredient that forms the basis for what has become probably the most indulgent and addictive of all food products: chocolate. In the 18th century, Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus named the mysterious cocoa plant Theobroma ('food of the gods') due to the reverence attributed to it by the Mayan and Aztec people of Central and South America. In Mexico, it served as a form of currency, was ground with chillies and corn to make a fiery beverage known as xocolatl, and was used by Montezuma, the King of the Aztecs, in the 16th Century as a strong aphrodisiac.
Sadly, today the trade and production of this legendary bean involves 14 million farmers who receive as little as US$30-$108 per household for a year. There are 284,000 children working in hazardous conditions on cocoa farms and up to 15,000 as slaves.
The issue of chocolate sharply reminds us of our need verses our wants. This unit focuses on issues of citizenship and responsibility. It also provides engaging ways to examine expenditure and economics in personally applicable ways.
Download the full teaching resource (700kb)
Download the student resource sheet (1.52Mb)
Introduction to Module 5 - Sweatshops
The clothes we wear make us walking evidence of 21st century forced labour, with the vast majority of textiles being produced by workers not getting paid enough, in bad conditions, with little protection and even fewer rights. Men, women and children are affected. The sweatshop epidemic spreads much further than the much publicised campaigns against Nike and Gap. From the entire cities of low-wage factories scattered across China to the thousands of Mexican women working in cheap labour factories just south of the US border, sweatshops are the default setting for clothes production.
They are by no means a poor country feature: currently, 300,000 underpaid Australians are working in our national textiles industry, sewing the 'Proudly Made in Australia' tag. There is current legislation proposed in Victoria for greater transparency in the textiles industry.
In order to skirt international law concerning work and wage standards, 'Free Trade Zones'” have been set up by the International Monetary Fund. They are areas in countries free of government control where products can be manufactured en masse without interference: all in the name of export growth.
In this module, students will gain an understanding of how closely we are linked to people overseas through the clothes we wear and things we buy. The myth of unfair working conditions only happening overseas will be challenged in looking at sweatshops operating in Australia. Students will research which Australian companies have been accredited to use the 'no sweatshop' label, and will be challenged to think about people their age working in the textiles industry overseas.
Download the full teaching resource (580kb)
Introduction to Module 6 - Avenues for Empowerment
Students in Australia and New Zealand are in a prime position to learn about the world and what they can do to make a difference with issues as widespread as global poverty. Associations like The Oaktree Foundation and World Vision’s Vision Generation have inspired and empowered children to take the initiative in getting informed and involved.
The Fairtrade system provides a way that students can become involved in contributing to the livelihoods of the poor simply through the products they buy. Whilst other social justice initiatives (especially trade-related initiatives) can be difficult for students to understand and even more difficult to get involved, the relative simplicity of Fairtrade can be an exciting concept to get behind. There are many activities students can help organise to educate and empower others. The fact that a very large number of children around the world are involved in the trade of food products makes their plight a reality closer to home for students. This module presents a range of different avenues for students to pursue and encourages them to think of their own active responses.
On a personal level, students can see themselves as consumers with a responsibility and can influence their parents to make ethical purchases. On a school level, students can help get Fairtrade products sold at the canteen or staff room, organise information sessions and competitions or write up petitions to make changes to school policies.
At a local level, students can be active in organising newsletters and flyers informing others about Fairtrade or advertising planned events and exhibitions. Letter-writing initiatives to local leaders can be a practical use of English writing skills.
At a national / international level, serious students can join with other likeminded people in tackling bigger and more specific issues. This will help children understand that change takes a lot of effort and planning.